The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to transmission of downlink channel quality information in multi-carrier wireless communication systems. Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of base stations to simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile terminals. Each mobile terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. A reference to a “downlink” refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and a reference to an “uplink” refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. The system may support operation on multiple carriers. Each carrier may be associated with a particular center frequency and a particular bandwidth. Each carrier may carry pilot and overhead information to support operation on the carrier, and carry data for terminals operating on the carrier.
Downlink channel quality information may be measured by each mobile terminal. When multiple carriers are used on the downlink for transmission to a mobile terminal, the configuration of the transmission of this information on the uplink may present challenges in power conservation and mapping.